The Israeli government - emboldened by politicians in the west - is committing war crimes. Gaza is a human catastrophe where the horrors will echo through history. There is a primal need within so many Israelis for action to avenge the horrific massacre of the innocents by Hamas. But how is the cycle of violence broken? In the bloodlust for revenge, sane voices in Israel and around the world are being drowned out.

On the first part of a two-part Free State this week, Joe and Dion look at how anger and fear create the conditions for violence and why the cycle can only be broken by acts of courage. After the Holocaust, Israel wanted to create a country where it would never feel terror again but instead it is a land where fear is the one emotion both sides share. History shows us there only two options: make peace and allow people to live in dignity and without oppression. Or repeat the circle of violence forever.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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In the second part of 'On Her Majesty’s Secret Service', Peter Taylor discusses the attempts of the British establishment to censor & intimidate him. He describes the central importance of the hunger strike and how it changed everything. 

He recalls a day spent locked in a cell in the dreaded H Blocks with a young Eamonn McDermott & marvelling at his book collection. “How can an IRA man read Tolstoy & Hardy?” he asked. “An IRA man is just a man like any other” said McDermott.

He takes us through the landmark events: how Mrs Thatcher had to have her hand firmly guided as she signed the Anglo Irish Agreement, the meeting of Martin McGuinness & Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth & how the peace was eventually won. This episode is dedicated to all the precious lives lost in the Troubles. And to the courage & integrity of Peter Taylor.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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Late in the night following Bloody Sunday, a young reporter arrived in Derry. ‘If you want to know what’s going on here,’ John Hume told him, ‘he’s the person you should be talking to you. He’s called Martin McGuinness’. It was the first time this young reporter called Peter Taylor had heard the name. 

For 50 years Taylor made establishing the truth in the north his goal. He talked to everyone.

Peter Taylor is this week’s guest on a two-part special on Free State. From IRA leaders suspecting their fruit was poisoned to the civil servant who wanted to end the hunger strikes with M&S shirts, Taylor always got the story. It was dark and dangerous work and only a man like Peter Taylor could have done it. Peter also talks about his book Operation Chiffon and the risks that were taken for peace from a chip shop in Derry.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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In the end, Pat Gilroy will remember the fun more than the winning. What is sport for except those moments shared among a team that will never be forgotten? 

In this episode of Free State, Joe and Dion talk to Pat about what is being lost in sport as backroom teams swell and clubs and counties are being drained of finances by professional management teams who have no bond with them. Pat recalls the words of Kevin Heffernan as he reminded him of what their club St Vincent’s was all about. And he delivers exclusive news about a new association he has founded which will give the most important people in the GAA long overdue recognition.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

To get in touch with the podcast: [email protected]

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When the news broke that Mickey Harte was the new manager of Derry, some accepted it as part of how the modern GAA operates. But for others it struck at the heart of the GAA. 

In a powerful and emotional episode of Free State, Pat Gilroy is back with Joe and Dion to talk about Mickey Harte and loyalty. 

What is the GAA about? What do we want? Is the association becoming a sham, where there are more barter accounts than at RTÉ?

Are the old ideals of loyalty, amateurism and doing good for its own sake disappearing?

As professionalism becomes more brazen we ask if the GAA can be saved.

Joe also explains the mystical bond he had with his Derry brothers and why that is shattered by the Mickey Harte appointment.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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Matthew Collins was dead inside. This is where hatred led - to a library with mothers cowering in fear, sheltering from an attack from his far right group. The sound of hatred was the sound of a pregnant woman crying and begging for mercy

His life changed that day when he realised that violence is always where hatred leads. Hatred of asylum seekers, Jews, people of colour, the trans community, Muslims, librarians…anyone will do. 

In Part Two he talks to Dion and Joe about the violence and why he changed. Today he works as a ‘fat James Bond’ taking on the far right. He explains what that means and how he protects his family from death threats.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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Once upon a time, Matthew Collins would have been standing with the mob outside Dáil Éireann erecting gallows and spitting hate. 

This unexceptional teenager fell under the spell of older Neo Nazis and became, in his own words, a vile violent hater, who wanted nothing more than to smash someone, anyone, in the face with a hammer.

Matthew joins Joe and Dion on Free State this week for a two-part interview. He explains why he once had those feelings, the hold the far right have over their supporters and the moment he had to change.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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For the families of those murdered by security forces collusion, the truth was all they had left.

In Part II of Unquiet Graves, Joe and Dion look at the fight for truth from the families affected by the Legacy Bill. The truth would not set them free but it would provide some peace. It would honour the memory of the dead. They hope to see them some day, walking in, smiling like they’ve never been gone.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

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The past lives in everyone traumatised by the Troubles. The Legacy Bill has layered misery and anxiety on top of suffering and injustice. For the families who are haunted by the graves of their loved ones, the Act will bring only silence. The families want the truth about the past, the truth about state collusion and murder.

On Free State, Joe and Dion look at the stories of those families whose lifelong search for justice is in peril. They explain why the Legacy Bill was a death rattle of British colonialism. And why there are so many unquiet graves.

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

To get in touch with the podcast: [email protected]

Twitter: @dionfanning @JoeBrolly1993 @freestateirl

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With around 35% of people north and south supporting the Sinn Fein movement, Dion & Joe wonder why there isn’t a single person from a Republican background in the mainstream Irish media

On Part 2 of ‘Wrap The Green Flag Round Me Boys’, we discuss how change is coming in Ireland and why politicians will be followers not leaders. Also can Joe Brolly be persuaded to agree with himself?

Free State with Joe Brolly and Dion Fanning is a Gold Hat Production in association with SwanMcG.

For more on Free State: https://freestatepodcast.com/

To get in touch with the podcast: [email protected]

Twitter: @dionfanning @JoeBrolly1993 @freestateirl

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.